Gaze Into Your Psyche

Have you ever had a group activity where they ask you a question to lighten the mood and try to get to know you?  I was once a waiter, and we used to have tons of questions we would ask new comers like “If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?” or “What CD is currently in your car?”  Although they may be very simple questions, they do in fact tell a lot about a person.  So, I don’t know what thought process brought up this topic, but I would love to hear other people answer some of my favorite questions.  Post your replies in the comments!

1. If you were a car – make and model, what car would you be, and why?
2. If you had a vacation house, what would it be, and what would you name it?
3. If you had a boat, what would you call it?

Technology to Solve Drinking and Driving

Say goodbye to freedom!  Soon every car will be equipped with an ignition interlock device, which prevent’s driv’ers from getting behind the wheel after having too much to drink.  Ok not exactly, but the technology is on the horizon and I could see this scenario coming true in the next 5 years.  Currently, the process requires the driver to blow into the device, which would be rather inconvenient to have every driver do this, but don’t worry because I assure you that technology can, and will, make this process much more convenient.

Cars today are practically computers on wheels.  For those that still carry keys, most have microchips embedded in them, but now drivers simply push a button to start the car.  Nissan has recently been experimenting with different ideas to decrease drinking and driving, and if diabetic blood sugar monitors can detect blood sugar level without a blood sample, whose to say you can’t do the same for blood alcohol level (BAC).  So what I imagine is with some combination of these technologies, your key fob, or even your steering wheel, will be able to detect your BAC as you hold it, and if you exceed the pre-configured limit then the key disables the ignition from starting.  There would be no way to monitor the device remotely, so their would be no fear of invasion of privacy, although you have to be blind to believe you have much privacy in the first place.  Hell, with GPS on cell phones and cars, and all the other technologies today, there is always a way to find you – but that is an article for another day.

So some of you might be saying, “screw this!  I have never gotten behind the wheel after drinking, so why should I pay for someone else’s mistake.”  Well, imagine the price you pay when you, or someone you know gets killed by a first time offender who wasn’t responsible enough to make the right decision.  We all should know how common it is today.  Simply turn on the nightly news and chances are you’ll hear something similar.  In fact, I read a statistic that 1 in 4 drivers after 10 pm are under the influence of something.  That is a high ratio, and proves that a lot of people don’t make the best choice, so why not ask the government to step in and do something more to keep the roads safe.

If driving is truly a privilege, then why should we complain when the government is imposing safety precautions.  I think a majority of the country would agree that safety belts are inconvenient, but they are required to be worn.  Air bags and car seats are other features which have been required by law to increase the safety of drivers and passengers.  All of these were once a luxury to have in your car but now they are standard.  Driver’s might have complained when the law requiring these safety devices was being passed, but they all have the intentions to protect people on the road from potential hazards.  Nobody complains today that “I am a good parent, why should I have to put my kid in a car seat.”  Rather, parents are looked down upon for not providing their children with this safety.

Of course there is a way around everything.  You can choose not to wear your seat belt, have your child sit in your lap while you drive, or pay  a stranger to blow in your ignition interlock device, but there isn’t much you can do for those that go out of their way to break the law.  But in order to protect those who make poor decisions, and those that share the road with them, I think the idea is genius.  It’s just a matter of waiting for technology to become so convenient that the driver won’t even realize what is going on, and then cars should be equipped with the device.

Don’t Call A Locksmith

I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone has keyless entry on your cars nowadays, so allow me to share with you a little trick that I was taught.  If you are ever found with your keys locked in your car, don’t bother wasting money on a locksmith.  Most people receive two remotes with a keyless entry, so call someone who is close to that second remote, and soon your problem will be a thing of the past.  No you don’t have to ask them to drive to where you are and unlock the car.  Instead, point your phone towards the car, have your remote friend place the car remote up to the phone, have them press the unlock button, and voila, your car unlocks! According to my experience with this, it has worked every time, but every time is only twice, and it was on the same car.  Fortunately for me, I have a keypad on my car and would never be caught in this predicament.  Try it out and let us know about your results in the comments!

Quack, Quack, Quack

If those three words haven’t caused you to begin reminiscing about the movie The Mighty Ducks, then you should by now.  Not that the movie has anything to do with this article, it was the first thing that I thought of when I began writing.  This weekend the Oregon plays Cal in college football and it should be one hell of a game.  I am actually disappointed that I will be at the Texas game, and won’t be able to watch it.  Anywho, I am sure I am a little behind on the times, but as I was searching around for news and notes on the game, and I came across this clip of the Oregon Ducks mascot doing a little more than playful fighting with the University of Houston mascot.  I think many of us have seen playful fighting, but this goes far beyond, and is evident once the duck sits on the cougar and begins to punch the cougar in the head.  So, in this weekend’s game, which mascot would win in a fight between the Oregon Duck and the Cal Bear?  After watching this video, I got $50 on the duck!

What’s Your Poo Telling You?

I can’t remember how this topic came up but we were talking about the #2. Not the actual number, but poo. For some reason we were discussing colored poo. Many of you should be aware that when you drink Pepto-Bismol, your stool turns black. What I didn’t know is that if you eat the chewables, then your tongue will turn black too! I am not sure what your tongue and poo have in common, that they would both turn black, but I think that would be freaky if my tongue were all of a sudden black.

Other colors I came across in my research were green, from eating a lot of green vegetables, and blue, if you consume a lot of blue or purple dye – like drinking an entire Sonic Route 44 Ocean Water® beverage. If you are more interested in your poo and what it might be telling you, I highly suggest purchasing What’s Your Poo Telling You? and store it close to your porcelain throne.

Why I Have Little Faith In Society

I have no shame in admitting support for a genocide of stupid people. There are tons of people on this planet who plague society with their stupidity and are clinging on to the bottom run of the social ladder.

HDTV has been around for over 5 years and should now be in a majority of homes, and yet many of those owners have no clue what high definition (HD) is. Why? Because, 35% of owners don’t even know that they need to either purchase an HD antenna or subscribe to HD programming, therefore they are not actually watching HD shows on their HDTV. Buying an HDTV doesn’t just magically change your image to HD quality. If you do subscribe to the proper programming, hopefully you understand that only about 20-30 stations are currently broadcast in high definition, and not all programs are recorded for HD quality, but for some reason I think some of you don’t know this. If you have a 16:9, aka widescreen, television, have yuou ever noticed the black bars on the side? Those bars usually mean the show, or commercial, is not filmed in high definition. Lastly, and this one is a bit more understandable, but in order to get a HD image on your television, you need the right cables. Your usual RCA wires – red, yellow, white – are not going to produce the image you could with say an HDMI cable.

For more evidence of the bottom rung, check out the results of an HD survey done by Best Buy. Oh and before you start thinking that I am promoting Best Buy in any way, I’m not. You have the internet right in front of you so do some research and understand what you have bought, or are going to buy so you don’t become a victim.

To help, allow me to offer some of my own advice:

1. Call your cable/satellite provider and ask whether you already have HD programming. Usually this requires that you are already subscribed to the digital line up, and have added the HD tier (runs about $10 for me). You can also purchase an HD antenna which will receive a few of your local stations, but you get the usual quality of an antenna.
2. If you do have the service, then most likely your provider has you plugged in correctly. You will probably find three color plugs in the back of your television – red, blue, and green. For better quality I might suggest an HDMI cable which can be purchased online for A LOT less then you would find at Best Buy.
3. Lastly, remember that not all channels are HD so familiarize yourself with which are, and which are not, so you can truly enjoy the HD experience.

Happy Friday: Real-life Donkey Kong

Well if being Friday wasn’t good enough, check out some MTV Jackasses reenacting Donkey Kong in real life. Jump to the link to get a good laugh, and enjoy your Friday!

Real-Life Donkey Kong Shows Human Stupidity in 8 Bits

Gizmodo[via GameBrink.com]

Blame Facebook For Your Bad Sex Life

That’s right Facebook addicts, it’s not because you are socially inept, or just don’t have game, it’s because you thrive on the rush you get from being online. A recent article claims that about 50% of people admit that they spend less time socializing face-to-face, as well as, having sex because of the amount of time they spend online. What is ironic about all this is that another survey shows that people “…felt disconnected from the world, from their friends and family,” if they had their cell phone or internet taken away. Oh well, I guess people just don’t value physical interaction. Just remember, when phone sex and cyber sex become the norm, at least you know where it all started

Cheater, Cheater Pumpkin Eater

When writing my articles, I think of some creative title that not only interests me but hopefully captures your interest too. As you will soon find out, the topic that started this article is the pumpkin, and the first thing that came to mind, was that childhood rhyme. Then, within seconds of deciding on this title, my mind quickly wandered onto other topics, so I thought it would be interesting to touch on those, to show just how disrupting my thoughts can be.

It is almost October, which means two things for me: Texas versus Oklahoma and Halloween – and Halloween means pumpkins, costumes, and trick-or-treating. So before I continue, let me give some background: one of my inner-child dreams is to pick a Christmas tree from a tree farm and in a recent quest to find local tree farms, I came across pick-your-own pumpkin patches. Holy cow that would be awesome, just wait, it gets even better! Many of the patches are like miniature carnivals, and some even have corn mazes. Oh boy, I wish I were still a kid! So, if a 20 something can get this excited, just imagine what your lil ones will be like. Dive into the link and find yours!

In addition to pumpkin picking, many of these local farms offer year round fruit and vegetables, and, in case you are out of the loop, fresh is in. That means farmer’s markets and pick-your-own farms are the cool thing to do, so while you are searching for that pumpkin patch, check to see what other pick-your-own farms are close, and where your closest farmer’s market is – buy fresh, buy local!

Lastly, I mentioned how quickly my thoughts wander off, and as I was coming up with this title, the words cheater led me to football and the recent controversy with Bill Belichick. For those who live under a rock, the New England Patriots head coach has been accused of spying on an opponent’s practice to gain an advantage in play calling. Now the topic has become a concern for everyone, including Georgia’s head coach, who plays Nick Saban’s squad this weekend. With football controversies on the mind, let’s not forget, my alma mater, Texas, had another player arrested. You may think that these are just small stories, but I can feel something changing in the air and it’s not just autumn. So just be alert, in case football turns into a tornado of trouble.

Super Quattro

Oh wretched razor, how I hate you. I have been cursed with rapid hair growth, and so I must shave very often, thus resulting in quicker wear of my razors. I shave with a Schick Quattro razor, and if you shave with anything comparable, you know these suckers aren’t cheap, in fact, they become the most expensive item on my grocery list. Well, this morning my thoughts took me away from my work, and I found myself reading a web site about cryogenically tempered razors. I was soon lost in the wide world web learning about these razors. Those who sell cryo’ed razors claim that they will last up to four times as long as your normal razor, and some will even guarantee it! What’s even more shocking is that they only cost a little more than what you would pay at your local store. I plan on purchasing a box of these soon, and I’ll be sure to let you all know how they are! Feel free to share your experiences too in the comments.